Since I feel that it will be brought up in the comment section of this video, I will once offer up my personal philosophy surrounding the concept of a “game winner”. Given that most users of the internet struggle to extract meaning from text in paragraph format, I will reformat my philosophy as a list so that it is easier to comprehend for the teeming proletariat masses.
THINGS A GAME WINNER IS:
-A shot that puts the shooter’s team up by at least one point.
-A shot that happens near the end of the game
-A shot which is not followed by any more scoring by the opposing team
THINGS A GAME WINNER IS NOT:
-A shot that doesn’t win the game for the shooter’s team.
-A shot which happens with more than ten seconds to go in the game
-A goaltended shot
-A shot which allows the opposing team a significant amount of time to attempt their own game-winner
In situations like Ibaka’s, where he hit a three-pointer with thirty seconds left, leaving the Pacers with a full shot clock in which to counter with a shot of their own, I would not call that a “game-winner”. The proper nomenclature is “clutch late-game field goal”. Ibaka was clutch, and his actions directly led to the win for the Raptors, but it wasn’t a “game-winner”. Anybody who disagrees is welcome to fight me. Be warned, however, that I will start crying before you even throw a single punch in my direction.